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Prepared 600 PM EDT Monday October 29, 2012 Gary Szatkowski NOAAs National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mt. Holly NJ Forecast Office Weather.gov/phi National Weather Service
Philadelphia/Mt. Holly
Purpose of Briefing
Briefing #11 for event Promote situational awareness for emergency management community & partners Provide guidance for planning efforts Briefing applies to Mount Holly service area shaded in green on map
National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mt. Holly
Executive Summary
Dangerous Coastal Storm Sandy continues to have a severe impact on our region and will continue to do so over the next several days: Strong damaging sustained winds 40 to 55 mph over a prolonged period of time (24 to 48 hours), with gusts over 75 mph. Strongest winds are expected south and east of the I-95 corridor. Extremely heavy rainfall. Major to record inland flooding along streams and rivers. Major to record coastal flooding. The full moon on October 29 just makes things worse. Sandy has directly impacted our region. The center of the storm is in the process of coming ashore. Next briefing package will be issued by Noon EDT on Tuesday, October 30th. Monitor our website at weather.gov/phi.
Terminology
Hurricane Sandy has essentially completed the transition process toward becoming a very intense noreaster. Since it is not expected to be a Hurricane when it comes ashore in our region, that is why no tropical warnings have been issued for our region. We expect to continue with our noreaster suite of watch/warning products (e.g., High Wind, Coastal Flood, Flash Flood, etc.) throughout the event. We have done this consciously so you would not be switching from a tropical to non-tropical set of warning products in the middle of the event. This event will be difficult enough without that unnecessary complication.
Things to focus on regarding coastal flooding for the Atlantic Coast north of Atlantic City & the Raritan Bay
We are now in our fourth high tide cycle with Hurricane Sandy. We have already experienced major damage with record coastal flooding occurring. This high tide cycle will be the worst one of the event along the Atlantic Coast north of Atlantic City NJ, as well as into the Raritan Bay. This flooding will be at record levels. Dangerous wave action will combine with the coastal flooding. 12 to 20 foot breakers will occur in the surf zone for the remainder of tonight. The barrier islands north of Atlantic City will likely be cut off from the mainland. Breaches in the barrier islands are possible. Water is the most life threatening aspect of this storm. Hurricane Sandy is already the deadliest hurricane of the 2012 season. Please respect its power and heed the advice of local and state officials regarding any evacuations.
Winds
Strong winds have overspread the region. Strong damaging winds will continue through today and tonight into Tuesday morning. Winds gusts over 80 mph are likely over coastal sections. Inland locations will see peak wind gusts of 65 to 75 mph at the height of the storm.
National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mt. Holly
Housekeeping
Thank you for the very positive feedback on these briefing packages. However, we are simply unable to accommodate the magnitude of requests to be added to an email distribution list. Our list is frozen during this event as it is essentially maxed out. We are transitioning to using social media for this event and future events where we issue briefing packages. We are on Facebook at US National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly We are on Twitter at @NWS_MountHolly We will post notification of briefing package issuance on both Facebook & Twitter. Please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to receive the notification when we issue a briefing package. You can always download the latest briefing package at:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/briefing/packages/current_briefing.pdf
Questions?
For the latest information, visit our website at weather.gov/phi If you have any questions, please contact us. Gary.Szatkowski@noaa.gov Office 609-261-6602 x222